Tarantino Hailed This War Movie as a True “Artistic Experience”
Quentin Tarantino has often praised Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, calling it a true “artistic experience.” On the Rewatchables podcast, he shared how the film had a big impact on him, especially after seeing it multiple times.
“I found myself watching a bunch of stuff a second time or a third time that I hadn’t watched in years and pitting the movies against each other,” Tarantino said. Dunkirk, he admitted, rose to his number two favorite film of the 2010s after repeated viewings.
Tarantino admires how Nolan stepped away from superhero films and science fiction to tackle a real-life historical event. “This is where he dealt himself in, aside from Gotham City, and aside from science fiction, and the San Diego Comic-Con crowd, to being a great filmmaker,” he explained.
He also highlighted Nolan’s direction, pointing out several visually striking scenes. “He has about four or five great shots of an artist of a great director. Whether it’s like when the ships are tilting, and the weird angle he gets shows the ship tilting and the water rushing in. I mean, he just keeps doing that all the time. He keeps making it an artistic experience.”
Dunkirk was a major box office success, earning $189.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $340.6 million internationally, totaling $530 million worldwide.
At the time, it became the highest-grossing World War II film globally, surpassing Saving Private Ryan, though it was later overtaken by Nolan’s Oppenheimer in 2023.
The film also received strong critical acclaim. Critics often called it Nolan’s best work and one of the greatest war films ever made.
Rotten Tomatoes reports a 92% approval rating based on 472 reviews, with an average score of 8.7/10. The critical consensus reads, “Dunkirk serves up emotionally satisfying spectacle, delivered by a writer-director in full command of his craft and brought to life by a gifted ensemble cast that honors the fact-based story.”
Metacritic gave it a weighted average of 94 out of 100, indicating “universal acclaim.” Audiences also responded positively, with a CinemaScore grade of A− and 88% of viewers reporting they enjoyed the film according to PostTrak.
Dunkirk earned a spot on several year-end lists, including The Guardian’s ranking of the top 50 films of 2017 at number 13, The Independent’s seventh-best film of the year, and Time magazine’s top ten movies of 2017.
Tarantino’s admiration for Dunkirk highlights how the film balances thrilling spectacle with artistic vision, showing that a war movie can be both intense and visually stunning. Personally, I think Nolan’s ability to turn history into a cinematic experience is remarkable. What do you think about Dunkirk? Share your thoughts in the comments.
